VOLES!!

Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:54 pm

Anybody else got voles?---They have now destroyed all my berry plants, and everything else that they can get their teeth into!---I tried mouse killer on them, but dont seem to be doing any good!Did get a short end of garlic planted, BUT cannot mulch anything around here!---they even dig under the trailer tires,---or tractor/truck/etc.---lay a shingle down and by morning they have it totally plowed underneath!----they breed the year round, never hibernate just multiply and destroy!

I did get most of the gardens plowed before the weather went south!---rain AGAIN for the last 2 days/nights and looks like forecast showing 2 or 3 more days of this cold/windy/wet stuff!Farmers here are still trying to harvest corn/beans, and DEEP RIP because of the wet soggy summer that we had this year!

I did plow up more of the grass yard in an attempt to move the voles to limited spaces, but that didnt work either!----The extra footage will make good chicken corn growing are next year since former occupant here had all kinds of fert. dumped on the yard!---might as well get some use from it! thanks; sonny

Re: VOLES!!

Thu Apr 22, 2010 1:45 pm

sonny, I realize its been awhile since you posted this, I'm just getting around to reading them. I had 7 rows of wine grapes that I had planted 10 years ago, spent a enough money on them and time. After about 3-4 years they started producing enough grapes that I might be able to think about making some wine--- then the voles came ! Little BAST--D's ! Vines started dying and I couldn't figure out why. Then I started seeing their trails tunneling through the grass and holes going down by the roots of the vines. Not only did I have the voles at the roots but the Japanese Beetles would chew the leaves off. Once they were done stripping the vines of their leaves they would go away and the leaves would grow back. I ended up make only 3 1/2 gallons of wine after all that time growing them. I finally just cut them down . Now I don't see any signs of the voles or the Japenese Beetles. I just plowed up a garden and finally got 90 % of the sod tilled up and raked out and I'm just wondering what will invade that this summer ? Mike

Re: VOLES!!

Sun Apr 25, 2010 4:11 pm

Mike!!! THAT is another sad story,---You put all that money/time/hard work into that crop! and we fight that very thing here every year trying to get a little food for us!---I quit planting trees/bulbs/ etc. for that reason.I didnt get much garden planted this year and probably wont get anything else in (did get almost 6 rows of spuds, 125 feet long in early and a few onions/peas/short end of garlic)

I still am trying to find an economical chemical, or method that will kill them, but cant find anything . ---The only bait on the market is way too expensive for the average person to buy, and would take a large amount to be effective.-----In the meantime the destruction rages on and they get thicker by the day.I have asked for help/info./etc., and never got as much as 1 reply, so I struggle on in hopes of finding a solution.

P.S.----see off topic post by me!---thanks guys!

Re: VOLES!!

Sun Apr 25, 2010 6:21 pm

Sonny,

From a University of Illinois Extension publication:

Voles

Voles can cause serious damage and even death of woody plants. Voles are sometimes confused with field mice. Voles have short tails while mice have a relatively long tail. Otherwise the coloring and size are similar. Vole damage usually occurs during the winter. It often occurs in landscape where there is a "natural or wild" area that touches the property line. Vole damage also occurs in landscapes that have naturalized areas or large groupings of ornamental grasses. Which give the voles a suitable habitat that allows them to breed and reduces predation on the voles. Voles eat the bark and cambium off of many plants during the winter when more suitable food supplies are limited. If the vole girdles the branch or trunk, the plant dies. Snow of three or more inches on the ground allows the vole to tunnel under the snow from his normal habitat to the junipers, arborvitae or other plants to feed on the bark and cambium.

Control

Either use hardware cloth of 1/4 inch mesh or smaller around the desirable plants or pack or remove the snow from around the base of the plants. Allow at least one foot or more packed down or shoveled area all the way around the base of the tree’s trunk.

Re: VOLES!!

Wed Oct 13, 2010 7:33 pm

I had Voles eat everything in 2009.. Not 2010 though, this was a great veggie year.. After making many atempts with traps and such to get those little devils I started doing this. Took a few of those chlorine tablets from my swimming pool (the little one-inch tabs) dropped one in each vole hole that I found.. Haven't seen a vole since...As with any chemical use caution around domestic critters and semi domestic kids..

Re: VOLES!!

Fri Oct 15, 2010 11:51 pm

HitNmiss1923 wrote:I had Voles eat everything in 2009.. Not 2010 though, this was a great veggie year.. After making many atempts with traps and such to get those little devils I started doing this. Took a few of those chlorine tablets from my swimming pool (the little one-inch tabs) dropped one in each vole hole that I found.. Haven't seen a vole since...As with any chemical use caution around domestic critters and semi domestic kids..

I'll be the dummy on the hill...whats a vole hole look like? I have plenty of holes, smooth and round; look like snake or mouse holes. I put bait, bait and more bait out and its gone mostly over night!

I am having a terrible time with what I think is "voles", tunneling all aroung my yard, plants and citrus tree. I find mounds of dirt deposited on my lawn that look like someone just dumped a shovel full right there in a pile! But I never see any holes around these tunnels and mounds???

WnYF

Re: VOLES!!

Sat Oct 16, 2010 10:18 am

I have a problem with em too... the neighbor complained that they were eating her tomato's and sure enough they seem be burrowing around near the house too.

Re: VOLES!!

Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:02 pm

I heard on a garden radio show today that "Yard Guard" liquid (from Lowes) will work on any rodent problem in gardens. I plan to read the package tomorrow while at Lowes tomorrow and make up my mind then. I am getting ready for a spring garden now. My soil is very sandy and I plan to lime it good now and see what happens.

Re: VOLES!!

Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:48 pm

I could not find "Yard Guard" at Lowes. Worker said he had never heard of it. Oh Well....

Re: VOLES!!

Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:11 pm

Lowes here never heard of yard guard either!---the active chem in it is permethrin, ---so maybe it's its available under other names as well ( you can look up the MDS label and possibly track something down.---From what I can tell it is for insect control and can be used on garden crops under the name of garden guard. )Snow just melted here and I have tunnels all over the place in the dead grass as well as the snake hole lookin dens in the ground. thanks; sonny

Re: VOLES!!

Re: VOLES!!

Sat Mar 05, 2011 9:37 pm

Zinc Phosphide bait seams to get a few of them too,--but not to a large enough degree to counteract their prolific breeding numbers.---plus they multiply/do damage the year around/never hibernate ---hawks and owls dont dent their numbers either.---Sweeney's peanuts contains zinc phosphide and I used some of it but dont seem to reduce the numbers,---just makes them mover and dig into new areas in the garden. thanks; sonny